


A Veritable Potpourri

by mercy_angel_09



Series: Once A Day [3]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: (and that's canon), Duo's utterly predictable - especially when he's serving as Relena's bodyguard, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Over protective big brother, Quatre totally ships Heero and Relena, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 21:15:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7007770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercy_angel_09/pseuds/mercy_angel_09
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A politician and her bodyguard. Shenanigans ensue.</p><p>There's a reason why Relena's so popular with the populace. Luck be a lady tonight. Thoughts and daydreams. Seriously, bro, it's no big deal. Do you really think that she'll say no?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sagacity

**Author's Note:**

> These words are just miscellaneous words. The theme is that there is no theme. Five one shots. Five little slices of life. And one big brother who's had it up to his eyeballs with one emotionally obtuse Gundam pilot.

**Sagacity - Keen judgment or wisdom**

* * *

 

Relena stifled a yawn as she fought to stay awake. The current meeting was about the continued use of mobile suits in space for the mining of resource satellites and the constant fear that someone could take them and arm them to be used as weapons. It helped that Quatre was there to argue that Leos made lousy combat units, but that didn’t keep others from being worried.

This was rightfully so in Relena’s opinion. There were still unaccounted for OZ engineers, which meant that there was a very real possibility that the ability to build Taurus and Virgo model mobile suits was still around. However mobile suit manufacturing was rigorously moderated, hopefully deterring anyone who might get the bright idea to start manufacturing weapons.

“Vice-foreign Minister, what do you think?” someone asked and Relena had to think on her toes for an answer.

“Well, given the size of the natural resource satellites and the colonies themselves, I think it would be impractical to stop the manufacture of mobile suits for civil projects,” she reasoned. “There are several sanctions in place to deter mobile suit manufacturers from weaponizing their products, and if anyone starts to put a toe out of line they’ll have to answer to Preventer.”

“That’s certainly true, but that doesn’t mean that someone won’t try,” an earth diplomat replied, clearly unsatisfied with her answer.

“The use of mobile suits for civil projects has been long documented,” Quatre piped up. “The Leo models, which are the only models still manufactured, are considered base models. They have no particular offensive or defensive capabilities, though in the hands of a skilled pilot could be considered lethal.”

“Where there you have it!” a second Earth diplomat exclaimed.

“You’re getting ahead of yourself,” Quatre butted in. “I think that only a handful of pilots could ever pilot a Leo to lethal capacity, and they’ve all retired.”

“What about the Gundam pilots?” a colony diplomat asked.

“They’ve all retired,” Relena answered calmly. “I assure you, none of them want to climb back into the cockpit of a mobile suit, even if it were to do maintenance work.

“You seem awfully sure of that, Vice-foreign Minister,” a second colony diplomat noted coolly. “I wasn’t aware that you were on such friendly terms with them.”

“I got to know a few of them during the war and the events following it,” she answered with a frown. “I fail to see what that has to do with anything, though.”

“Aren’t you protecting them? Mr. Winner is correct, in the hands of a capable pilot even a Leo suit can be lethal,” the first Earth diplomat said archly.

“Yes, we’ve made that point,” Relena conceded, “but if they were intent on remaining pilots, why would they have destroyed their Gundams?” She looked around the room and gave a nod of satisfaction when nobody could answer. “No one, not even Preventer, could have made them destroy their Gundams. They did that of their own will as a show of faith that the peace they fought so hard for would remain. I do not doubt, though, that they wouldn’t hesitate to commandeer a Leo should the need arise. Let us hope that it never comes to that.”

The room fell eerily silent until someone coughed uncomfortably. “Well then,” the first Earth diplomat said after clearing his throat. “We shall review the sanctions and update where necessary. Do we have a motion to approve this?”

“I motion to approve,” the first colony delegate answered.

“And seconding the motion?”

“I second the motion,” Quatre said.

“The motion moves to a vote. All in favor say ‘aye’.”

“Aye,” the room chimed in unison.

“Let the record show that the motion to review and update the sanctions was passed unanimously. This meeting is adjourned,” the first Earth diplomat said.

With that the room broke into idle chatter as Relena leaned back in her chair and sighed. Slowly the other diplomats filed out, leaving her alone with Quatre and their respective body guards.

“Well that was eventful,” Quatre noted.

“Was it? I don’t think we really accomplished anything,” she replied as she began to slowly gather her files and put them away in her briefcase.

“You accomplished a lot more than you realized based solely on the fact that people naturally turn to you when faced with these decisions.”

“I hardly understand why. I was a girl when I became the Vice-foreign Minister. I have no formal training, nor do I have any sort of formal education to back up my position. I simply stepped into a role that was left vacant with my foster father was murdered. For some reason people think that this means that I am qualified for the job.”

“I think it has less to do with your parentage or your lack of an education and more to do with you stepping up to a role that no one else wanted and being very, very good at it,” Quatre explained with a disconcerted frown. “You are naturally observant. You read people, well, most people pretty well.”

“I maintain that no one can read Heero.”

“I’ll agree with you there. Anyway, you inspired hope in people who had given up and were ready to accept that the war was going to drag on. You gave disillusioned soldiers a reason to stand their ground and keep fighting because it meant that your vision could be realized. You have an old soul, Relena. People trust you because of that, and they trust whatever judgment call you make.” Quatre paused and made sure he was looking Relena in the eye as he finished. “Some people, despite good intentions, make horrible judgment calls. You, however, have never faltered and the people have responded to it. Don’t doubt yourself or your abilities.”

Relena chuckled softly. “Thank you, Quatre. That meant a lot.”

He smiled. “I don’t think it’s me that you should be thanking, Relena. Heero said it all first.”


	2. Stochastic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When in Vegas...inevitably you're going to stick your foot in your mouth.

**Stochastic - involving chance; random; probabilistic**

* * *

 

“I fail to see the appeal of Las Vegas.”

Standing on the sidewalk of the strip, Relena had her arms crossed against her chest and one hip cocked in a defiant gesture. As a general rule her idea of a vacation was a trip to the middle of nowhere. Her idea of a perfect trip included the likes of hiking in national parks or nature preserves, private or secluded beaches or just sitting in the solarium of her house with a good book and a cup of tea. The throngs of people on the street, the shouting and the sound of traffic and the bright lights were not her idea of relaxing.

“Aw, you’re just being sensitive,” Duo replied. “Las Vegas is loads of fun! We’ll take in a few shows, hit up the Bellagio’s art museum…”

“I could have done that in Paris, where I could rent a house for the duration of the trip and not stay in some tacky themed hotel,” she retorted.

“Would it kill you to think a little outside of the box for a change?” Duo grumbled. It wasn’t like they had a choice for their current location, a conference was being held at the Venetian that Relena was required to attend for her job. The former Deathscythe pilot had volunteered to go with her when Relena’s usual body guard had fallen ill in a shrewd move to go spend some quality time in the casinos during their down time.

“I know we didn’t have a lot of choice in the location of this conference, but I don’t see why we have to even leave the hotel,” she whined. “I would be perfectly happy to spend all of my free time sitting in my hotel room reading a book.”

“By doing so you miss what is quintessentially Vegas,” he said. “There’s world class dining and entertainment to be had, but to actually enjoy it you have to, you know, _leave the hotel room_.”

Relena actually pouted in response. “I realize that as a politician that large crowds shouldn’t bother me, but I’m really not happy with this whole thing. I’m spending the entirety of the conference locked in a room with arguing old men who try to out shout each other so I would rather enjoy some peace and quiet in my free time!”

Faced with an extremely displeased Vice-foreign Minister, Duo relented. “Fine, fine. We’ll go back to the hotel and maybe later this evening you’d like to go see the Bellagio’s art museum. That should be nice and quiet.”

Smiling in triumph, Relena linked her arm through his and started the slow stroll back to the Venetian. “That sounds lovely.” She grinned at him. “Tell you what, once I’m in bed you can go down and gamble for a bit, since I know that’s the only reason why you volunteered to come with me in the first place.”

Duo gaped at her as he opened and closed his mouth in an attempt to vocalize a denial of her accusation. Finally he dropped his head. “I can’t believe you knew that.”

“Everyone knew it, Duo, but they figured it was easier to just let you come rather than argue with you about it.”

He groaned. “Politicians.”


	3. Immanent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When there's nothing to do during the long flight between the colonies and the Earth, sometimes the mind wanders.

**Immanent - inherent; spread throughout; Subjective: taking place within the mind and having no effect outside of it.**

* * *

 

Relena had a love-hate relationship with the long flight between Earth and the colonies. On the one hand it allowed her to catch up on any work that she was behind on. However, on the other hand, it meant that she was bored with nothing to do when she was caught up. Like now, for example.

She sighed as she fidgeted in her seat, the restlessness of boredom setting in. She closed her eyes and decided that a nap would be a good idea, as she always felt that more sleep would be a good idea.

“No mountain of work to get through?” Heero asked as he sat down next to her.

She shook her head, not bothering to open her eyes.

“That must be nice. It seems like you’re always working,” he continued. He seemed unusually talkative. That wasn’t to say that Heero couldn’t be talkative, but as a general rule he was stickler for the conservation of conversation. “This is a fairly short trip, isn’t it? Just checking in with a couple of the smaller, upstart colonies and bringing them into the fold.” At her nod he let out a small hum. “You know, if you have some free time, I could take you out and show you around. I’ve spent some time in this particular colony cluster and I know a few good restaurants and whatnot.”

She smiled, but said nothing. At this point words from her would be meaningless.

“I know it’s not much, but I do like spending time with you. I consider you one of my closest friends.” He paused and took a deep breath before letting out a nervous chuckle. “In fact, I’m pretty sure I feel more than just friendship for you.” He swallowed as he waited for her to say something, but she remained silent, absorbing the confession.

“Relena?” he said before repeating her name several times in rapid succession.

Her eyes fluttered open and she turned to see him standing in the aisle, looking down at her in confusion. “Hm?”

“I said that we’ll be arriving soon,” he said as he sat down. “Where’s the usual mountain of paperwork?”

“At home, completed.” She chuckled wryly. “Where it belongs, I might add.”

“So now you’re just catching up on your sleep,” he noted with an approving nod.

“It seemed like a good time,” she shrugged.

“Well, maybe you’ll have some free time during this trip to relax a little,” he said as he stood up so he could go back to his seat a few rows down.

She smiled and nodded before settling back in her seat. Of course she had been daydreaming.


	4. Venial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Relax...nobody's actually ever seen Heero get angry.
> 
> Though there is a first time for everything...

**Venial - minor; easily excused**

* * *

 

Duo was panicked, and not in the usual, “Oh my God, the world is ending,” kind of way. Well, that was half-true. From his point of view all was lost, but to the casual observer he was overreacting.

“Heero is gonna kill me,” he muttered as he dashed about the kitchen in a frenzied state. Quatre frowned from his seat at the table, wondering exactly what was wrong with his friend.

“If you tell me what’s wrong, I could help you,” the Winner heir said, but his friend paid him no heed. Instead Duo flitted around, muttering softly to himself with the words “kill,” “maim,” and “dismember” turning up with alarming frequency.

“You’re awfully energetic this morning,” a voice noted dryly from the doorway.

Duo spun, his braid whipping dramatically around his body, and paled when he saw the owner of the voice standing rigidly before him. Plastering a smile on his face, he shook his head. “I, uh, misplaced my cell phone. Nothing major.”

“You’re lying,” Heero said as he headed towards the coffee pot. Duo cut him off.

“So, um, one of the security cameras around the back of the house has gone on the fritz and none of the tech team can figure out why,” Duo said quickly. “You’re a whiz with those kinds of things, perhaps you could go take a look? Don’t wanna leave holes in Relena’s security, do we?”

“It can wait until after my morning coffee. No one is going to be dumb enough to try and sneak in during the middle day.”

“It has happened before,” Quatre reminded them.

“Okay, they’re not going to risk it when security personnel outnumber them five to one,” Heero amended.

“Well, it’s just that…”

“You’re acting suspicious, Duo. What’s going on?”

Quatre leaned back in his chair, watching with interest. He and Duo had become friends while awaiting orders after OZ had threatened to destroy a colony, but his bond with Heero was equally strong due to their time searching for Trowa. He hated to see any of his friends at odds, but Duo’s squirrelly behavior was concerning him and perhaps confronting Heero would put a stop to it.

The former Deathscythe pilot swallowed nervously. “Well, I was prepping coffee this morning, and, uh, because I was running a bit behind I was moving too fast.”

“Okay.”

“Well, it’s just that…there was a casualty.” Heero’s eyebrows went up, but he said nothing. “The Canadian fast food mug, to be precise. The one you always use.”

Heero shrugged. “I’ll use another.”

“W-wait. You’re not mad?” Duo was completely perplexed.

“Why would I be?”

“Because it’s the mug you always use. Your favorite.”

“I don’t have a favorite. It was the one that was always at the front of the cupboard, so it was the one I grabbed,” Heero replied. He could have let Duo twist in the wind a bit, but he’d already worked himself up into enough of a to-do that it wasn’t really worth it.

Duo slumped against the counter. “You mean I’ve been worrying about nothing?”

Heero nodded as he reached for a mug and prepared his cup of coffee. “It was a good mug, but I’m not going to kill you if you accidentally knocked it off the counter. Even Relena doesn’t mind if gets broken – it’s just a goofy souvenir that she picked up on her last trip to Canada.”

“You know, you could have just said so,” Duo mumbled.

“I would have, if you had been up front with me,” Heero replied before taking a sip.

Quatre chuckled. “And what have we learned today?”

“Honesty is the best policy, even if it’s like a game of Russian roulette,” Duo replied dryly.


	5. Connubial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby carriage...wait...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Zechs/Noin spawnlings are more or less borrowed from the hot mess known as Frozen Teardrop.

**Connubial - Pertaining to marriage or the married state**

* * *

 

Relena sat with her niece in her lap, trying to keep her hair away from curious hands. “I understand why Milliardo cut his hair,” she said as carefully balanced the infant in her lap while pulling her hair into a make-shift bun.

Noin laughed as she shifted her son from one leg to the other. “He was holding them and when they both grabbed and yanked he figured I had the right idea.”

Relena laughed as she snuggled the little girl in her lap. It was so nice being able to visit with her brother and her sister-in-law in person, rather than over a video screen through a sketchy satellite uplink.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Milliardo was preparing a couple of bottles for the twins. Heero had followed, opting to avoid the small children for as long as possible. “Married with kids,” the former Wing Zero pilot mused. “Who would have thought?”

Milliardo chuckled as he waited for the water to heat on the stove. “Myself, to begin with, but it’s peaceful.” He shrugged. “We’ve had our ups and downs, but every morning I’m glad when I wake up beside her."

Heero chuckled. “You sound nothing like the man I knew during the war.

“Speak for yourself,” Milliardo snorted.

Half of Heero’s mouth quirked up in response. “I haven’t fallen into the marriage trap yet.”

“I wonder why not. Relena would say yes in a heartbeat if you ever asked,” Milliardo mused, delighting in the pained expression on his former rival’s face. “You do know that she could do a lot worse than you, right?” Taking Heero’s continued silence as a cue to keep talking, Milliardo did just that. “Despite what was going on between us during the war, I don’t dislike you nor do I feel that you’re not good enough for her. You obviously care a lot about her, or else you wouldn’t have commandeered a shuttle to come crashing into Libra with. So why don’t you just suck it up and ask her to marry you? Everyone knows how she feels about you and how you feel about her.”

Heero swallowed. “Do they.”

It wasn’t a question but Milliardo was going to answer anyway. “Yeah, we do. So, are you going to man up and ask her to marry you or are you going to continue skulking about?”

“Your water is near boiling.”

Pulling the pan from the burner, Milliardo sighed. “That’s avoiding the subject.”

“A subject that is none of your damn business.”

“It involves my baby sister, so yes, yes it is my business.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Like my relationship with Noin isn’t? I still call her by her maiden name. We’ve known each other since we were children, but calling her Lucrezia is weird to me.” Milliardo began the careful preparation of the bottles as he continued talking. “She’s told me everything, you know. Relena, not Noin. Anyway, I know that your relationship has always been complicated but things have changed. I see no reason why you two can’t be happily married with a couple of kids of your own.” He leveled Heero with a stare. “And don’t tell me it’s because she’s too good for you because that’s bullshit.”

Heero looked away, his gut tightening. “It’s not that simple…”

“If it were, divorce wouldn’t happen, but it does so what does that tell you,” Milliardo replied dryly as he began to shake the bottles to blend the powdered formula and water.

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Heero clarified with a sweeping gesture. “I understood my missions. I knew my Gundam inside and out. I am a trained assassin – I know nothing about being in a relationship with another human being. I’m civil at best with the others, and I have been known to make Relena cry.” He took a deep breath. “I barely remember my parents. I have vague impressions of my mother, but I don’t really remember my father. There was a man I stayed with after my parents died, but he was also an assassin and he started my training. I wasn’t kidding when I told you that I had been trained from a very young age. I was probably four when it started. The man died when I was eight, when I was then taken in by Doctor J.

“I don’t know the first thing about dating or marriage or starting a family. For the first time in my life I don’t know what I’m doing and it scares the hell out of me.”

Milliardo threw his hands up in the air in either frustration or praise. “Nobody knows what they’re doing when it comes to dating and marriage and starting a family. Do you think I know? My family was murdered in front of my eyes when I was six years old. That screws a person up, but Noin understands and she’s patient when I get frustrated and we take it one step at a time. That’s all you have to do, Heero. Trust in Relena and take it one day at a time.”

The two men were starting each other down when Noin called out from the living room. “Are those bottles done yet? The kids are getting hungry.”

Milliardo tossed Heero a bottle before heading back to join his wife and his sister. “Just give it some thought and trust Relena like she trusts you. It won’t be easy, but I think that given all you two have been through, you can make it work.”

Heero chuckled as he heard Milliardo coo as he picked up his daughter and began to feed her. There was no one else Heero trusted like Relena. Perhaps this could work. The corners of his mouth turned up. “Mission: accepted.”


End file.
